Make your own cookie cutters

It’s not hard to find cookie cutters in just about any shape you might want to bake a cookie in. All you need to do is Google around until you find a webstore that carries your design of choice – and there are thousands out there. Now, if you want to head out to the store and pick up an unusual cookie cutter, or are planning to bake this weekend and don’t have the time/desire to wait for shipping (not to mention that you don’t want to spend a lot of money on what should be a very inexpensive baking accessory), your options are more limited. Most stores – even craft stories that carry lots of cutters – tend to have only the most popular and seasonal designs available.

The easiest solution, once you eliminate giving up and going with a different design, is to make your own cookie cutter and at Instructables, there are two poststhat show you how to do just that. The technique involves using a pair of needlenose pliers to shape small pieces of sheet metal. The first Instructable describes how to do this using straight sheet metal from a hobby store. The second instructable describes the process of heating an existing metal cookie cutter and reshaping it into something else.

5 comments

Two things they left out that might help — one is to “break” the metal strip before shaping it, which is to say folding over one edge about 1/4″. This strengthens it, and also gives you a top edge to handle the cookie cutter with that won’t cut you. I’ve never done this part myself, but have gotten a metalworker to do it — they have machines just for that purpose.

The other thing is that if the shape is even slightly complex, you should put in little braces so it’ll hold its shape. This is where spot-welding works better than putting in screws.

Well, there weren’t many online shops during Soviet times;) We’ve got a bunch of gingerbread cutters (or, well, cookie cutters) at home that my grandfather made. They’re lovely!
This year I actually thought about making some as christmas presents, but unfortunately I never got to doing it:(

The one odd cookie cutter shape I cannot find anywhere: an anatomical heart. I thought it’d be cute for a sciencey kind of Valentine’s Day cookie, but I couldn’t find one anyplace. This might solve the problem – thanks!